Russell “Russ” Dor Helwig, 75, of Whitewater, passed away March 10, 2015 at Fairhaven.
Russell was born in Eau Claire on Jan. 26, 1940, the son of Lester William and Elsie Mae (Holcomb) Helwig, and grew up in the woods and on the farm. He attended Kaiser School, a one-room country school. Russ graduated from Eau Claire Senior High School in 1957, also working on construction of one of the area’s largest dairy barns.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Wisconsin State College at River Falls, and while there was baptized January 18, 1959, at the River Falls Methodist Church. He worked summers at the National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., and later received his Master’s degree from the University of Nebraska and his Doctorate in physics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1973.
Russ was a physics teacher for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 1965 until retiring in 1998.
On June 25, 1966, Russ married Karen Ann Honisky in the Wilber Methodist Church in Wilber, Neb.
Russ was a member of the Whitewater Gourmet Club since 1966, a charter member of the Wisconsin Vintners Association, a member and volunteer of the Ice Age Trail Alliance Walworth/Jefferson County Chapter also having been Chapter Coordinator, a member of Better Investing (formerly NAIC) serving as a past South Central Wisconsin Chapter Director, and was a member of several genealogy associations.
He was a past member of Les Amis du Vin, the Whitewater Investment Club serving as treasurer, and the American Association of Physics Teachers, and many others.
Russ played piano and occasionally drums in 4- or 5-member polka bands in his later high school years, often playing for town dances.
Russ’s hobbies included: hiking, fishing, bicycling, genealogy, gardening, wine and winemaking, and was DNR chain saw certified for trail work.
He hiked in Alaska, New Zealand, Argentine Patagonia, Peru ending at Machu Pichu, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Since 2003 he led year-round Tuesday and Wednesday hikes on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and other local Walworth, Jefferson, and Waukesha County trails. He also led National Trail Day Hikes and corporate hikes in the Kettle Moraine for the Uline Corporation. Russ summarized the weekly hikes in an e-mail sent to over 200 interested hikers. This led to additional publication in the Walworth County Week, and his column later appeared in the online community blogs of the Walworth County Today. Most recently, Russ’ column appears in the Sunday Walworth County Shopper, Janesville Messenger and the Stateline News.
In 1957, while in high school, Russ was awarded the Bausch and Lomb Science Award. In 2014, Russ was honored with the 4,000 hour “President’s Call to Service” Lifetime Award. On February 26, 2015, Russ was awarded the Spirit Stick Award in a pre-conference presentation at Fairhaven by Mike Wollmer, the Executive Director of the Ice Age Trail Alliance, with about 20 Executive Board and local chapter hikers attending. It is a prestigious award given to one person in the State each year with a carved walking stick forwarded to each year’s honoree.
Surviving are: wife, Karen Helwig, Whitewater; sister, Jean Chaput, Eau Claire; many nieces and nephews, and special friend, Janet Bryant.
Russ was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Lester Aaron Helwig who was born and died in 1922; a sister, Edna Mae Eliason, 1914-2003; a brother, Walter Allen Helwig, 1925-2006; and a sister, Irene Adelaide Willy, 1926-2011.
Funeral and visitation services were March 16 at the First United Methodist Church, 145 S. Prairie Street Whitewater, with Rev. Kimberly Brumm officiating.
Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider a memorial to the Ice Age Trail Alliance or to the UW-River Falls Physics Department.
The Nitardy Funeral Home, Whitewater is assisting the family.
